New Playground Sprouting in Upton

submitted by Steve Rakitin – thank you what a great post

You may have noticed a lot of activity at the site of the Veteran’s Memorial Playground next to the VFW. The DPW and Recreation Commission received funds from the Community Preservation Committee to replace the old equipment and create a brand new playground for children aged 2-12. In addition, several Upton businesses donated over $18,000 to this project. Several town residents volunteered and worked with the DPW crew over the past weekend to get the installation started.

The top photo shows the new equipment for 5-12 year olds. The bottom photo shows the equipment for 2-5 year olds. The swings are located behind the trees along the edge of the playground. There will be a tire swing and most all of the equipment is handicapped accessible.

Upton has a history of parents volunteering to build playgrounds for our children.

Starting back in 1980, a few parents noticed that there wasn’t any kind of playground for the kindergartners attending the Ball School (now the Police Station).

So, the parents built a sandbox.

In 1985, the playground at the old Memorial School was also in need of replacement.

A group of parents supported by the Memorial School Mother’s Club got together to design and build an amazing play structure. Upton resident Hans VanRaalten designed the structure and built a detailed scale model.

All materials were donated by local businesses including Massachusetts Electric (utility poles), the Bernat family (rough-hewn oak), the Upton Fire Dept. (old fire hose) and many others. You can see one wing of the school in the background.

A small army of volunteers worked almost every weekend during the summer of 1985 to finish the project before school started in September.